Mississippi Administrative Code
Title 15 - Mississippi Department of Health
Part 8 - Office of Health Policy and Planning
Subpart 90 - Planning and Resource Development
Chapter 03 - Mental Health
Section 15-8-90-03-301 - Mental Health Needs in Mississippi

The prevalence of mental illness, although difficult to assess, serves as a good indicator of the volume of need for mental health services in a given population. The negative social stigma associated with the term "mental illness" also obstructs efforts to measure the true incidence/ prevalence of most types of mental illness and behavior disorders and the need for mental health services.

Using the methodology updated by the federal Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) for estimated prevalence of serious mental illness among adults (Federal Register, June 24, 1999) and U.S. Bureau of the Census 2010 population estimates, DMH estimates the 2019 prevalence rate of serious mental illness among adults in Mississippi, ages eighteen (18) years and above, as 5.2 percent or 109,000 individuals. The same methodology estimates the national prevalence for the same age group also as 5.2 percent.

In Fiscal Year 2020, a total of 3,697 people received services at state-operated behavioral health programs which include the Mississippi State Hospital, East Mississippi State Hospital, North Mississippi State Hospital, South Mississippi State Hospital, Specialized Treatment Facility, and Central Mississippi Residential Center. A total of 2,197 adults received acute psychiatric services at the four (4) state hospitals in Fiscal Year 2020; and a total of 110,200 people were served at the fourteen (14) CMHCs in 2018.